The Seattle Times did a nice summary of what the Seattle Real Estate Market has done in the last 5 years last week. When looking at these facts remember to look at the big picture, the value of real estate is constantly changing. We saw a big spike in value in 2007 and people are still comparing their property value to that year.
I do believe things are starting to turn around and get back to normal, whatever that is!
Home sales remained sluggish around most of Western Washington during September. However, there are some positive signs. It’s a weak recovery, but it’s trending in the right direction. . . at least we think so.
Among positive indicators were pending sales (“starting to show signs of life”), month’s supply of inventory (pointing toward a more balanced market), stabilizing prices (with more homes being priced competitively), the market adjusting to no more tax credits, and strong sales of “specialty homes.” There were 5,741 pending sales during September across the 21 counties in its service area. That’s a drop from August (down 4.9 percent) and from the same month a year ago (a decline of 24.3 percent), but an improvement on the total number of mutually accepted offers for May, June and July. Continue reading
Seattle has the nation’s “least miserable” economy, according to one measure of economic performance. Dubbed the “misery index,” it is computed by adding the inflation rate to the unemployment rate.
Year-over-year inflation in Seattle is a negative 0.5 percent, according to figures from Financial Trend Forecaster®. Added to Seattle’s unemployment rate of 6 percent (based on U.S. Department of Labor data), the misery index equals 5.5 percent.
In second place with a 9.35 rate was Washington D.C. Dallas and Houston both have relatively low misery indexes, at 9.5 and 9.55 percent respectively.
Big cities with the highest misery indexes are Los Angeles, at 12.28 percent, and Detroit, at 13.87 percent.
For the U.S. overall, the index for June was 10.55 percent (unemployment = 9.5; inflation rate = 1.05). The index has ranged from a low of 2.97 in July 1953 to a high of 21.98 in June 1980, according to the website miseryindex.us.
Home prices should begin an uneven rebound next year, says a forecast compiled for Businessweek.com by Fiserv and Moody’s Economy.com
Taking into consideration such factors as employment, foreclosure rates, income growth, demographic trends, and construction costs, Moody’s Economy.com and
Brookfield (Wisc.)-based financial services industry information firm Fiserv (FISV) estimate that by 2014, U.S. home prices will be 7.2 percent above 2010 levels, with the strongest growth in the Pacific Northwest.
Stiff says he expects to see home prices bounce up and down near their lows for the next two to three years, especially in the markets that experienced the largest price bubbles.
The most robust market in the forecast is Washington State’s Bremerton-Silverdale area, a quiet naval community across the Puget Sound from Seattle. Home sales and new construction in the area have slowed in 2010, but Fiserv and Moody’s Economy.com expect prices there to shoot up by a total of 44.7 percent over the next four years—9.7 percent annually—the highest forecast among 384 metropolitan statistical areas surveyed nationwide. Price levels have fallen about 21 percent from 2007 peak levels, according to the Fiserv Case-Shiller Indexes.
One factor setting Bremerton-Silverdale apart has been a stronger economy than the rest of the U.S. The unemployment rate in the area is 7.2 percent, compared to 9.5 percent nationally. Bremerton’s military has also helped to sustain employment. The Naval Base Kitsap and the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard provide a lot of local jobs. While the area has a large number of foreclosure and pre-foreclosure homes, the market is less dominated by distressed sales than many other markets.
Washington’s second-strongest market is Tacoma, with a growth rate expected to be 33.1 percent. Prices in the Seattle area are expected to grow 25.5 percent by 2014.
At some point, everything stops falling. Sometimes things hit bottom with a thud and just lie there in a heap. Sometimes they bounce back up at least part of the way. The U.S. housing market is in the latter camp. Remember the old saying, buy low and sell high? Call me if you want to get on board and make some money!
Overall median home price and volume were down in King and Snohomish Counties for February 2009, comparing year over year sales. However, there were five neighborhoods in King County with positive gains in Median Home Price. The winners are:
Belltown/Seattle – 10.4%
Des Moines/Redondo – 8.9%
Newcastle – 7.2%
Vashon Island – 4.3%
Central Dist/Seattle – 1.5%
We have the numbers for your particular neighborhood. Don’t hesitate to contact us anytime we can be of assistance at 425-330-0663.
As many of you may or may not know, Shoreline, WA is one of the proposed sites for a 640-bed municipal jail facility. The site is located at 2545 NE 200th St which lies on the Northeast side of Shoreline bordering Lake Forest Park.
In November, we posted the news release from the city identifying the six sites. Since then, there have been public forums and meetings held by both the city and the surrounding neighborhoods. If you would like to get involved, review tapes of the public forums, or simply find out more information about the proposed site you can visit http://www.necmunicipaljail.org/ .
You can also read more and submit written comments regarding the EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) by visiting these links; http://www.necmunicipaljail.org/SEPA.htm and http://www.necmunicipaljail.org/docs/NEC_2008_EIS_Scoping_Notice.pdf.
Please note the following notice received from a local resident:
Dear Neighbors, Friends and Shoreline residents,
The community is organizing opposition to the proposed jail site at the residentially zoned, Aldercrest Annex. Comments on environmental impact and ideas are needed on an appropriate use of this property such as park, soccer complex etc.
The following are two web sites with updates and information on what you can do to help.
Concerned citizens of Lake Forest Park have started this web site, check it out:
As reported by NWREporter
More housing and, ultimately, more construction jobs are the goals of a new housing stimulus package approved by the King County Council at its Dec. 15, 2008 meeting. The measure, proposed by King County Council Chair Julia Patterson and King County Executive Ron Sims, passed with a 6-0 vote, with three members excused.
The package aims for a more streamlined and cost-effective development and permitting process for builders, which is expected to result in more revenue for the county and more environmentally-friendly development. The measure is expected to increase certainty, predictability and consistency for housing builders and lenders while providing critical infrastructure, jobs-based training and educational opportunities.
“This housing stimulus proposal is just one of our efforts to help stimulate our regional economy,” said Executive Ron Sims. “These changes will pay big dividends in the long run because they’ll not only help the struggling housing industry, but also continue to provide benefits to the housing development process long after this worldwide economic crisis passes. We have seen a significant decrease in housing permits. It is essential to look forward to ensure there is enough appropriate housing stock to meet the housing needs in the future.”
The Housing Stimulus Plan adopted by the council considered 10 elements:
According to 2008 market research by the National Association of Home Builders, an average of 3.05 jobs and $89,216 in taxes are produced from building an average new single family home and the development of a typical one-hundred-unit multifamily apartment complex generates one hundred sixteen jobs, $8,670,900 in income from all affected industries and $3,349,400 in tax revenue. In addition, every job created on site by creating or renovating affordable housing an additional 1.5 jobs are created off site. For every dollar invested in affordable housing, an additional ten to fifteen dollars of economic benefit was generated for the surrounding community.
“Executive Sims’ effort to advance a housing stimulus plan represents an important first step toward enhancing the economic vitality of our region’s housing market and getting the economy back on track,” said Sam Anderson, executive officer of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties. “The motion recognizes what a critical role housing plays in our local economy, contributing jobs and helping to fund valuable local services.”
Mt Rainier, photo by Tim Thomspon
Those of us that live in the NorthWest know we are lucky to have the scenic views that we do. But every now and then we are still amazed by nature’s beauty. Back in December Mt Rainier put on a show that captivated many with it’s amazing cloud formations. To check out more photos and learn about how these formations came about check out KATU’s blog.
Just in case you have not watched, listened to, or read any local news Western Washington is flooding and has caused many road closures including I-5. A stretch of Interstate 5 from mile post 68 to mile post 88 is closed due to water over the roadway, many highways in the area are closed making it tough to get out of Western Washington in any direction.
Please check the Washington State Department of Transportation for up to date road conditions and closures. It might not be a bad idea to stock up on food, batteries, and fresh water too, just in case!
I love, love, love Chrismas Lights. At our house, I do the inside and my husband does the outside. For some reason he enjoys putting the lights up in the rain and cold and many times he’s crawling on the roof at midnight fixing that one light. As much as I love our own lights we also enjoy going to light festivals. Here are just a few of the big ones around the Seattle area but of course you can always just drive around your own neighborhood. Let me know if there are some really good ones that I should add to the list!
Seattle Rattle Blog 